The Butchers of the Reaper War
by pouncepounce
Summary: A short about Lieutenant Campbell, just another Alliance grunt, and his squad as they escape towards their extraction point.


"Only a half klick to go, Private," Lieutenant Campbell said with a grunt as he pulled up Ramirez from collapsing down onto the muddy ground, "On your feet."

Ramirez shook herself awake, fighting off the exhaustion. "Aye," she managed hoarsely before trudging on behind Campbell.

The flashlights of his squad's helmets and firearms illuminated the otherwise pitch black tunnel. They were on Earth, somewhere in London. Campbell knew the geographical coordinates, but he didn't know _where_ he was; he wasn't a local.

The tunnel was fifteen or so metres wide and tall, easily enough room for two skycar lanes. Campbell found it hard to believe that this place was once bustling with traffic. Now it was filled with cracks, car wreckages and several inches of water, and the only ones inside were him and his squad, or at least, he hoped that was the case.

Campbell turned a sharp right ahead of his squad and he saw it; the end of the tunnel in all of its glory. Soft rays of white light leaking and blending into the shadows within the tunnel.

"That's it!" Campbell shouted back to his squad, who were now sharing the view with him, "Almost there!"

Campbell connected to the main radio channel, "Fire Team Alpha to Control, come in."

Satellites were down, so grunt soldiers like himself had to rely on short distance radio; they didn't fare too well when they had to work through several yards of concrete. But now there was a clear opening.

After a brief silence and some static interference, Campbell heard the voice of his Captain from the other side, "Fire Team, this is Control. What's your situation?"

"We're almost at the end of the tunnel, sir," Campbell spoke with a refreshed sense of hope, which kept his feet moving towards the light, "We require evac for myself and two other squad members."

"Copy that, Lieutenant. Shuttles have been dispatched," the voice said again after another slight pause, "ETA five minutes."

"Aye, aye," Campbell said before turning off the communications and turning back to his squad, "Come on let's move!"

It was only around 300 meters of ground between them and safety.

The pace of each squad member quickened, the sunlight shining in from the end of the tunnel enticing them to go further. No one said a word, each member single-mindedly trudging on as they shared a silence punctuated only by the splashing sounds of feet stamping down onto the wet ground.

200 meters.

So close. The light looked brighter now.

And then, a growl.

Campbell raised his arm with his hand clenched, signalling his squad to halt behind him. Dazed and unfocused, Private Newland almost collided with his Lieutenant's elbow, slowly coming to a stop. Wondering what was important enough for the Lieutenant to stop and stand between himself and that sweet, sweet light, Newland looked around lazily for clues.

Another collective growl, from all around them, echoed through the tunnel.

Pure terror washed over Newland and the rest of the squad as the sources of the noises came into view under their flashlights; countless husks awakening from their slumber in the shadows.

The growl quickly turned into the all too familiar and terrifying scream that none of them could get used to.

"Move, move, move!" Campbell shouted over the quickly approaching husks before they could get surrounded.

The ground shook as hundreds of husks seemingly peeled off of the tunnel's walls and stampeded towards their escaping prey. Campbell sprayed almost carelessly around at the husks approaching from the front in an attempt to engulf his squad in their swarm.

100 meters.

They ran onwards for what seemed like an eternity, tearing and slicing through husks with firearms and omniblades. They were so close.

Campbell heard Newland scream in pain, followed by a sickening crunch and the sound of his crumpling body. There was nothing he could do. "Keep moving!" Campbell yelled at Ramirez, knowing full well that she was about to double back in a vain attempt to help her squad mate.

They push on.

The light was almost blinding as Campbell and Ramirez made it out of the tunnel, but it was not over yet. Quickly scanning the area for fortifiable positions, Campbell found a large scrap pile of broken down skycars, "Up there! Hold that position!"

The two of them dashed to the scrap pile, clambering up to a fair height before sending slugs raining down onto the hoard of husks chasing after them.

Campbell was an optimist by nature but he wasn't an idiot; with only the two of them they would soon get surrounded in a matter of minutes. Dozens of husks continued to pour out of the tunnel from which they escaped.

Campbell connected to the main channel again, "Control, this if Fire Team Alpha. ETA on that evac?"

Another pause.

"Fire Team, be advised we have just received new intelligence and the parameters have shifted. We are reassessing the situation," the Captain on the other side said, before the channel abruptly cut off.

"What'd they say, sir?" Ramirez asked over the loud gunfire she was delivering.

"The Captain says they're _reassessing_ the situation," Campbell almost spat, "Hold the line, Private. They'll get off of their asses and come for us eventually."

Mere moments later, Campbell's radio reconnected.

"Fire Team Alpha, this is Control. Do you copy?" said a brass-sounding voice, but it was a different one to his Captain. Perhaps this officer was higher up in command, Campbell thought.

"Good copy," Campbell replied between shots of gunfire, "What's the situation?"

"Lieutenant," the voice said after a moment of what seemed like hesitation, "Your current position is deep within a large group of Reaper forces preparing to attack a refugee camp full of civilians. We are unprepared to defend the camp; the Reaper forces _must_ be stopped now and there."

"Then get us out of here and blow this place sky high!" Campbell shouted over the screams of an approaching husk that had managed to climb up to their position, which he sliced in half with his omniblade.

"Regrettably," another pause, "The air presence of evacuating you and your squad would alert them of their currently exposed vulnerability."

Campbell continued to fight, against both the husks and the creeping feeling of despair.

"Therefore, I, Admiral Anderson, have decided that we will carpet bomb the Reaper forces immediately. Do you copy, Lieutenant?"

Campbell gritted his teeth, sending a slug through a husk's head before replying, "Good copy, Admiral."

"Lieutenant," Anderson continued sombrely, "I'm-"

"Good copy, Admiral, and good luck!" Campbell cut him off, turning off the communications radio.

"Anything good, sir?" Ramirez called over from beside him.

"Nothing yet!" Campbell replied, not knowing what else to say.

Ramirez never gave one of her trademark offhand comments about damned armchair generals or how desperately she needed a shower after this shit storm of a mission; she merely gave a pained yelp as one of the husks struck her across the chest, pushing her off balance. Campbell managed to grab hold of her just in time before she tumbled down the junk pile, simultaneously taking down the attacking husk with his handgun.

Her body was floppy.

Apparently the husk had struck Ramirez a little higher than Campbell had initially thought; her neck was broken.

The next few minutes felt almost like an out of body experience for Campbell, as he fought off the attacking husks while Ramirez lay paralyzed by his side, and then he heard it; so did she.

"They're here, they're _finally_ here!" Ramirez wheezed, "We're saved."

Three Alliance fighters were fast approaching on their position.

Campbell gripped Ramirez's hand, firmly. She didn't feel it, of course.


End file.
